Sun Devils show out on the road against Pac-12 rivals Stanford and Cal

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

It was an action-packed weekend in the Bay Area as ASU swim and dive took on two formidable conference opponents: Stanford and Cal.

The Sun Devil men opened their back-to-back weekend with a win over Stanford on Friday.

Notably, sophomore Zalan Sarkany and freshman Ilya Kharun had some standout swims, as they each broke their own school records in their respective events. Sarkany reset his record in the 1000-yard freestyle to 8 minutes and 38.13 seconds and now holds the top time in the NCAA. He also had a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. Kharun lowered his 200-yard butterfly record to 1:37.93 and is now the second-fastest performer ever in the event. He was also runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly.

Sophomores Hubert Kós and Johnny Kulow added to the team’s success, winning two individual events. To top things off, junior Léon Marchand swept the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and posted a nation-leading time of 1:38.78 in the 200-yard individual medley.

For the divers, sophomore Lane Stallworth, senior Zachory Lundgen, and sophomore Caleb Liban claimed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the men’s 1-meter dive. In the 3-meter event, Lundgren took second, with Stallworth and Liban taking third and fourth.

In the end, the men’s team took down eight pool records and had a strong start to their meet weekend.

On the women’s side, the Sun Devils put up a good fight against Stanford but ultimately came up short despite claiming multiple podium finishes.

Senior Lindsay Looney was the only ASU swimmer to pick up an individual event win. She won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.61 and narrowly missed first place in the 100-yard butterfly by less than half a second.

Sophomore backstroker Charli Brown also had some solid performances on Friday. She placed second in the 200-yard backstroke and third in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Sophomore Deniz Ertan had strong swims in the 1000- and 500-yard freestyle, and her efforts propelled her to a second-place finish in both events.

Divers freshman Kayden Hayes, senior Ashlyn Kirsch, and freshman Vera Brewer placed third, fourth, and fifth in the women’s 1-meter diving and second, third, and fifth in the women’s 3-meter diving, respectively.

After Friday’s split results, the Sun Devils prepared to do it all over again on Saturday, an experience that head coach Bob Bowman believes is beneficial for his squad as they prepare for the postseason.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to compete on back-to-back days with Stanford and Cal,” Bowman said. “The intensity of the competition and the emotional charge will prepare us well for the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships.”

It was a clash of the titans on Saturday afternoon as the ASU men’s team took on the reigning NCAA champions, the Cal Golden Bears, in one of the season’s most highly anticipated dual meets. In the end, the Sun Devils managed to hold their ground as they tied the meet with the Golden Bears.

Individually, Sarkany got the Sun Devils off to a blistering start. For the second time this weekend, he broke his school record in the 1000-yard freestyle, this time, clocking in at 8:37.82. He also won the 500-yard freestyle later in the meet. Sarkany went two for two in the 1000 and 500-yard freestyle throughout the weekend.

Kós took second place in the 100-yard backstroke to Cal senior Destin Lasco. However, the two battled again in the 200-yard backstroke, and Kós came out victorious, with a time of 1:39.07. Ilya Kharun picked up a pair of wins in the 200 and 100-yard butterfly, the latter in which he placed second against Stanford.

Léon Marchand went three for three in wins again in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, and 200-yard individual medley. He posted a time of 1:38.93 in the 200-yard individual medley, making it his second time under the 1:39 barrier in two days.

Lundgren and Stallworth placed third and fifth in the men’s 1-meter diving, with Stallworth coming fourth and Lundgren fifth In the 3-meter event.

The Sun Devil women suffered their second loss of the weekend against the Golden Bears on Saturday, but they managed to pull off some promising swims.

Ertan’s performance was a highlight of the meet, as she swam a stellar 1000-yard freestyle time of 9:37.44. Ertan managed to win the event against Cal despite finishing second against Stanford. The sophomore also narrowly missed first place by a tenth of a second in the 500-yard freestyle later in the meet.

Again, Looney took first in the 200-yard butterfly, with a time of 1:53.51, which was slightly off of her time from Friday. Looney also placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly. For the second time, Brown took on the 100 and 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley. She placed third, fourth, and third, respectively. Senior Katrina Marty, junior Erin Milligan, and freshman Alexa Reyna all had runner-up finishes during the meet, as well.

Hayes and Kirsh finished second and fourth in the women’s 1-meter diving and third and fourth in the 3-meter event.

Overall, the women faced tough conference opponents but still posted some strong swims and dives that weekend.

Competing in just its second and third meets of the new year, ASU was able to use this weekend’s Bay Area trip to help them settle back into the routine of competition following the holiday break.

“The team has followed our normal training pattern going into this meet,” Bowman said. “We had an intense training period over the holiday and have settled back into our mix of endurance and speed work with an emphasis on improving our details in advance of the championship season.”

This weekend’s meets were the Sun Devils’ penultimate Pac-12 contests of the season. ASU will travel down to Tucson for its season finale before competing in the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships beginning Feb. 28. Bowman is hoping the team’s preparation and culture help propel them to a successful postseason.

“Our team culture is based on honesty, accountability, competitiveness, resiliency, and respect,” Bowman said. “These values are the basis of our process-based approach to performance. Our team believes that the key to success is making progress each day and finding ways to get better continually.”